Consumer appliances, such as refrigerator appliances, oven appliances, microwave appliances, dishwasher appliances, etc., generally include one or more components for directing operation of a given consumer appliance. For example, a consumer appliance may include a controller having a printed circuit board and memory that is connected to a control pad. Through programmed instructions and input from the control pad, the controller may work with the other components of the appliance to direct operations thereof.
In order to service a consumer appliance, a service professional must generally be dispatched to a consumer or user's physical address (i.e., where the consumer appliance is installed). The consumer must schedule a time for the service professional to arrive that fits within the schedule of both the service professional and the consumer. It is only once a service professional arrives that a diagnosis of the consumer appliance can be performed. For instance, the service professional must generally be physically proximate to the consumer appliance in order to a) properly identify the type or model of the consumer appliance, and b) diagnose any errant event or problem that may have occurred. Once the diagnosis is complete, though, the service professional may need to return at a later date (e.g., once a necessary part or tool has arrived). In many cases, this process can be especially frustrating to users. The frustration may be magnified if a separate appliance at the same address requires service soon after the first appliance.
Therefore, further improvements to methods and tools for servicing consumer appliances are necessary. In particular, it would be advantageous to provide methods and tools that permit identification of one or more consumer appliances, as well as issues associated therewith, prior to or after the arrival of a service professional. It may be further advantageous to provide methods and tools that permit the simultaneous servicing of multiple discrete consumer appliances prior to or after the arrival of a service professional.